The Urbanization Process In The US After WWII

Through a multitude of significant changes physically, conceptually, economically, and more, the societal reformation of cities in the Progressive Era had set themselves as the foundations of American civilization. The juxtaposition between the rich and poor statuses in these urban areas show the drastic separation within developing cities. Through this division caused a wide variety of living conditions, the majority of which held the overcrowded sections of cities where the population mostly stayed while the higher end communities had more luxurious lives. Through this success of entrepreneurship and economic growth from all aspects in cities, the entire landscape, both physically through innovative architecture and the perspectives outside rural and suburban areas had on them, had transformed for the better in these areas.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century, the United States experienced a large increase in political, economic, and social reforms. During this time, there had been an increase in urbanization, and industrial factories within the larger cities throughout the United States, particularly in the northeastern cities. With the addition of the industries and factories too populated also came a growing number of immigrants, and seekers of wealth and employment. As a result, the population increase would result in major issues which would overshadow the economic gains that came from industrialization. In addition, the rise of industrialization also brought about major issues within the populations of the city. After seeing

For a majority of Earth’s history, its populous has been free to roam and live off of the land, maintaining a balance between the habitat and its inhabitants. However, as technology develops the earth is placed at an even bigger disequilibrium. In the places where massive sequoias reigned, high-rise apartments now stand. Just as water rushed through rivers, cars drive down streets. The populants of Earth continue to innovate, industrialize,and urbanize, but at what cost?

Urbanization in America was driven by the massive unskilled immigrants who wanted jobs and an opportunity to start their new life in a country known to most as “The land of opportunity”. Urbanization have made many changes to America. The cities have become a place to look for opportunities and a popular place to migrate for work either for the people from the rural area or immigrants from outside the county. Which will then lead to political issues and finally the restriction of immigration itself. The process of Urbanization started in the late 1800’s triggered by the Industrial Revolution and Industrialization. Several factors played in the process one of which is the Gilded Age who had a crucial importance in relation to the shift from

The period between the Civil War and the Great Depression was the most rapid period of urbanization in the nation’s history. During the late 1800’s the population expanded about four times in urban areas. Young reformers believed poverty could be alleviated with proper policy, focused assistance, and better government regulation. The efforts of these reformers would later be termed “progressivism,” and this period would become known as the “Progressive Era”. Negative consequences came of urbanization.

The roaring twenties, or golden twenties, was essentially the time period that signified the importance of urbanization. As the period progressed, more people began to move out of farmland and into major cities. Cities including New York and Chicago were met with a large increase in population. As population got denser in lighted areas, economy flourished as well. Money became less of an issue and rather a privilege for the typical middle class man or woman. With this, commoners were able to enjoy the perks of living in a big city. As a result, culture in the roaring twenties also prospered.

In Suburban Nation the authors recognize three points in culture change: Social Marketing, Removal of existents barriers to change, and Enactment of new regulations.

Housing was a necessity many Americans wanted, “During the 1950s, for example, suburbs grew at a rate ten times faster than that of central cities, while the nation’s suburban population jumped from 35.1 to 75.6 million between 1950 and 1970” (Avila 4). The main problem

As the nineteenth century progressed distinct geographical and cultural regions began to take shape within the country. The industrialized North, the agriculturally centered South, and the opening of Trans-Appalachia to settlement. At the start of the 1800s the Northeast was still primarily dominated by family farms, but the soil was losing fertility forcing the cultivation of marginal lands, which brought a decrease in productivity. (Nash, et al., 2007. , p. 249)

The depression hit urban areas hard. It took older cities a longer time to recover, and some never did. A lot of factories and textiles left or were forced to close their doors. “The depression had a more devastating impact on certain urban areas. No city in the United States escaped economic hardship, and many boomtowns of the 1920s found themselves in desperate straits in 1933. But generally the older metropolises of the Northeast and Midwest recovered more slowly from the slump and suffered the greatest permanent setbacks.”(Teaford 81)

. During the 1950’s the economy boomed. With the return of the veterans of World War II, there was a larger number in births thus increasing the population. Housing and urbanization dramatically increased. The reason for this being possible is that during the war, money was being saved and wages increased. The government was able to build factories and sell them to private businesses, which made revenue and increased defense spending. U.S businesses shifted from manufacturing to providing services, information, finances, and entertainment. With this came necessities and luxuries such as automobiles (contributed to increase in suburbs), refrigerators, T.Vs, and washing machines. During this time there was a high standard of living and a large

The people that lived in the cities were only two cities that claimed population of over a million people were London and Paris. By the turn of the 20th century, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia in the United States along with Berlin, Tokyo, St. Petersburg and Moscow, Buenos Aires, and Osaka had reached or were fast approaching that mark. Also, massive metropolitan areas around the world towns and cities of all different sizes, from industrial cities to trading centers and county seats also expanded. The conditions were as followed New York became the first American city to reach a million inhabitants, followed by Chicago, and Philadelphia in 1890. Towns and cities attracted both rich and poor seeking more opportunity's. Overpopulation

The Great Depression in the United States of the 1930s hit the region hard. It wiped out the employment rates in the industrial cities; therefore, a

The focus on urban planning during the depression was a way to employ the masses of unemployed folk and to advance the infrastructure of the nation. The vast projects that were undertaken are often viewed today as engineering marvels. The Hoover Dam (then called the Boulder Dam) was one of the largest projects or the era. It along with several other dams were created on the Colorado River to control flooding and to generate power for the region. The mentality behind the creation of infrastructure and planning was that it would generate jobs, not only directly, but also in the long term. People would be able to utilize the new roads built or the lakes created to advance. There was a focus on urban planning and renewal more than ever before.

The significant increase of the world’s urban population has lead to a crisis of unprecedented enormity in urban housing provision. All these new urban citisens need to be provided with shelter, employment and with basic services. The limited capacity of most urban economies in developing countries, such as Brazil, are unable to meet more than a reduced part of these needs, so that most of the employment and housing supply are found in the ‘informal’ sector, where around 67% of the urban population in developing countries are currently living and working (Habitat III Issue Papers - Informal Settlements 2015).